Once Upon A Midnight Sky
by life.needs.things.to.live
Summary: In the quiet moments Hestia ponders upon the past. She wants to forget the past and move forward, to continue on with her life. But in the quiet moments, when she's alone with her thoughts, all it takes is a glance at the starry midnight sky for the memories to come flooding back in waves of nostalgia and longing pangs.


Hestia leaned back against a nearby tree, quietly thumbing her Heraldic Symbol. She had volunteered to take the final watch. She needed to be alone with her thoughts.

Besides, she couldn't sleep anyways.

The fire crackled softly, the warmth of it curled against her skin while the smoke curled up into the clouded night sky.

Such nights reminded Hestia of her wife. Calm, guarded, yet comforting and knowing.

_ "What's on your mind?" a soft voice spoke._

_ Hestia looked up from sharpening her glaive. "What makes you think I have something on my mind?" Her gaze fell on the Drow woman before her. _

_ Kind lilac eyes with flecks of silver in them, dark hair that was tossed back in a multitude of braids, and skin that was reminiscent of the midnight sky. _

_ Itarille smiled knowingly, "Those sad gold eyes of yours. If your mouth won't say it then your eyes will speak the truth."_

_ Hestia snorted. _

_ "So, what's on your mind?" asked Itarille as she sat beside Hestia._

_ "It's nothing, Itarille," Hestia swallowed a lump in her throat. _

_ Even saying her name... _

_ There was just something about Itarille. _

_ Oh great. Now she was staring at Itarille like a damned fool. _

_ Hestia quickly turned to set her glaive aside, forcing herself to take her eyes off of her._

_ "Why are you so quiet, Promise?" Itarille's voice was soft and tender._

_ She froze. _

_ Scarcely anyone called Hestia by her Virtue name. Only her father and their Tribe Leader called her by her Virtue name. Even that was rare. Virtue names were sacred for Tieflings. Either it was something that they stood for or it was something that they were reguarded as._

_ How did Itarille know?_

_ "Why the sudden curiousity?" Hestia replied, scrambling to pull her thoughts together into something coherent._

_ "Well, you've been acting strange since I dragged you back from that raid and healed you." Itarille arched a slender brow at her. "And since then, you've been...quiet. Which is strange considering you're usually quite the opposite."_

_ "I...It's nothing- I just..." Hestia faltered and trailed off._

_ Her face flushed uncomfortably as she felt herself blush from her neck and up. _

_ Itarille smiled softly and gently clasped her hand around Hestia's. "I know."_

_ Hestia looked down at their clasped hands. Itarille's was coarse and calloused yet tender upon touching Hestia's. _

_ She closed her eyes. "What do you know, Itarille?" she asked quietly._

_ Another hand cupped the side of her face, a thumb gently grasped her chin and tilted her head up._

_ Hestia hesitated before opening her eyes, her gaze being met by Itarille's tender one. _

_ Itarille smiled, "There's that beautiful smile."_

_ Hestia chuckled faintly. She hadn't even realized that she was smiling._

_ "Flatterer." She said sheepishly, her cheeks growing hot._

_ "Well I do my best." The Drow Cleric grinned, her breath tickling Hestia's lips._

_ Biting her lip, Hestia glanced at Itarille's lips. "I...this is..."_

_ "Is the mighty Promise flustered?" Itarille teased as she gently traced her thumb against a scar on the Tiefling's cheek._

_ Hestia shuddered involuntarily. "Your fault." She grumbled._

_ "My fault? If anything this is your fault."_

_ She raised her brow as she looked up at the Drow woman. "How the fuck is this my fault? You're the one who came over here."_

_Itarille chuckled softly. "Do you not remember what happened after you were wounded during the raid?"_

_ Of course she did. There was an intense pain, darkness, then she had woken up to see Itarille working tirelessly to treat her and the others that were wounded._

_ Hestia squeezed Itarille's hand that still held her's. "You," she answered. "I remember seeing you, Itarille." Her response came out in a hushed whisper. Despite it being night time and the rest of the Tribe was either asleep or patrolling their boarders, it felt likt those were needed to be hushed just for the two of them._

_ Itarille's teasing and amused expression softened, a swell of compassion twinkled in her lilac eyes. "When I saw you go down...it didn't feel right. It felt like I was in a waking nightmare. I was focused on getting to you, getting you out of the fight, and I prayed for your return. I prayed that you would be alive." She looked down at their clasped hands. "I suppose it was selfish of me. I'm not use to that- being selfish. But all that mattered to me was that you were alive and I needed to keep you alive because I...I need you, Hestia. My Promise." She whispered. _

_ Hestia opened her mouth to say something but nothing came past her tongue except: "Why me?"_

_ A short laugh passed Itarille's lips. "I know, it was surprising to me as well. I've been alive and in this tribe for close to 200 years, which is a lot compared to most of the tribe but it's young for an elf; there's been raids, clashes with other tribes, and even a small war at some point. But," Itarille turned her gaze to Hestia once again, "None of that came close to the fear that held me when I thought I had lost you."_

Hestia rubbed her scarred face with a slight sigh. It felt like a lifetime ago when things felt so simple. She wasn't even middle aged and she felt old. Old in the sense where she just felt tired. Tired of losing people and watching memories fade away.

"And this time...I lost you, My Darling." She whispered to herself, thumbing her wedding ring.


End file.
